THE government will allot P155 billion in next year’s budget for the institutionalization of its inter-agency body tasked to lead government response to the Middle East crisis, according to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
“At this stage, the estimated funding requirement for the proposed UPLIFT (Unified Package for Livelihoods, Industry, Food, and Transport) interventions is at least P155 billion based on the preliminary presentation of the Office of the Executive Secretary,” Budget Undersecretary Goddes Hope O. Libiran said in mixed English and Filipino during a news briefing.
She noted the figure is not yet fixed, adding the final amount will depend on how much participating agencies can realign, repurpose or defer from their appropriations.
“We are not looking at entirely new spending, but rather a strategic reprioritization within the current fiscal phase consistent with prudent fiscal management and in line with our full government efforts,” Ms. Libiran added.
The UPLIFT Committee convened on Tuesday for its 5th meeting. It endorsed the creation of a UPLIFT bill to institutionalize the country’s energy crisis response.
The DBM also launched a microsite as a “transparency tool” to document its efforts to help Filipinos amid the Middle East crisis.
“At this time, when fake news is prevalent, we really want the people to have a single source of truth when it comes to information regarding the Middle East crisis,” said Ms. Libiran.
She said the microsite was created specifically for the Middle East crisis and will be running until the war is over. — Chloe Mari A. Hufana
